Cathinone, an alkaloid from khat leaves with an amphetamine-like releasing effect.
Khat leaves, widely used as a stimulant in East Africa and the Arab Peninsula, contain the alkaloid (--)-cathinone. The effects of this substance on the efflux of radioactivity from rabbit striatal slices prelabelled with 3H-dopamine were examined. It was found that low concentrations of (--)cathinone enhance the release of radioactivity in a dose-dependent manner, and that (--)cathinone was capable of sustaining the enhanced release induced by (+)amphetamine. Pretreatment of the tissue with cocaine, which is known to prevent the induction of release by (+)amphetamine, inhibited the efflux increase caused by (--)-cathinone. These observations suggest that amphetamine and the active principle of khat leaves have an analogous mechanism of action.
D000470:Alkaloids / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000818:Animals; D003042:Cocaine / Q000494:pharmacology; D003342:Corpus Striatum / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*; D003913:Dextroamphetamine / Q000494:pharmacology; D004298:Dopamine / Q000378:metabolism*; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D011817:Rabbits
D000470:Alkaloids; C023665:cathinone; D003042:Cocaine; D003913:Dextroamphetamine; D004298:Dopamine